Crowd of photographers spotted taking photo of... a tree?

Singapore — A video of photographers and their fancy telephoto lenses surrounding what appears to be a tree is circulating online. It turns out that they were trying to capture behind camera a rare migratory bird. “Guess who’s photos they taking? Wrong answers only,” wrote Instagram page sgfollowsall on Thursday (Nov 18). [caption id="attachment_391914" align="aligncenter" width="586"] Photo: IG screengrab/sgfollowsall[/caption] The page attached a video of a group of photographers and passersby flocking what appears to be a tree. [caption id="attachment_391913" align="aligncenter" width="585"] Photo: IG screengrab/sgfollowsall[/caption] [caption id="attachment_391915" align="aligncenter" width="576"] Photo: IG screengrab/sgfollowsall[/caption] The centre of attention turned out to be a rare migratory bird called the Oriental Scops Owl, which was first spotted inside a shop at Jurong West. On Wednesday (Nov 17), a netizen by the name of Massuri Aini took to Singapore Wildlife Sightings Facebook page to share a backstory to the sighting. “Found this beauty. Thought it died cause it was laying on the floor in front a shop.” [caption id="attachment_391912" align="aligncenter" width="1536"] Photo: FB screengrab/Singapore Wildlife Sightings[/caption] “I knew I shouldn’t have picked it up by I had to shift it to prevent it from being stepped on,” noted the kind stranger. After a few steps, the owl tried flying away but landed on the road. The concerned individual then placed it on a tree branch nearby. After about 15 minutes, the bird was able to fly off to higher ground. [caption id="attachment_391911" align="aligncenter" width="1536"] Photo: FB screengrab/Singapore Wildlife Sightings[/caption] As news of the bird got around, photographers and bird enthusiasts soon flocked the area. Another netizen, Alex Low arrived in the evening and saw the area empty. Thinking that the sighting was over, he was fortunate to have spotted the owl. “Thankfully, two block residents and a lady from the massage centre who were still reeling from the afternoon excitement quickly came over to help me locate the owl which was hidden right inside the tree in the dark.” [caption id="attachment_391910" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Photo: FB screengrab/Bird Sightings[/caption] At around 9 pm, the owl eventually flew across the street into the darkness, perhaps having recharged its strength from the long migratory flight. /TISG Read related: Dusky langur monkey not native to S’pore spotted at Upper Peirce Reservoir https://theindependent.sg/dusky-langur-monkey-not-native-to-spore-spotted-at-upper-peirce-reservoir/